Watching From Above
by Lynn Zeng
Summary: Jenny Shepard watches over the team as they go about their lives years after her death in the diner. Even though she is dead, she will never truly be gone from NCIS.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't and will never pretend to own NCIS.

She couldn't believe that it was finally happening.

Tony and Ziva were getting married.

Finally.

They had been working together for years, but neither of them wanted to admit that they had feelings for the other. There had been playful banter, but nothing more. Plenty of office pranks and jabs at each other's dignity, but nothing more. There was even some silent tension, but neither party acknowledged it. Finally, out of the blue Tony popped the question to Ziva with a box and a ring while they were both snapping photos at a crime scene.

Ziva's first reaction was to punch in him the face. Hard. "What did you do that for?" she demanded.

"Gotta ease up on those, Ziva," said Tony as he winced in pain. He slowly closed and put away the box. "And Ziva, I just proposed to you. Out of love. Because I love you. I want to marry you. I want to have little DiNozzos with you."

"Why, Tony?" Ziva looked straight into his eyes with a cold, hard stare. She figured that it was a joke, or maybe a dare. "Who put you up to this? McGee?"

"Why would McGeek do anything like that?" asked Tony. He pulled a surprised expression onto his face. "I am not open to manipulation by geeks, especially geeks like Tiny Tim."

"Hah." Ziva faced him with her hands on her hips even as her heart began fluttering slightly nervously in her chest. "Almost anyone can order you around and you do what they say, just like that." She snapped her fingers to emphasize her point.

Tony laughed. "DiNozzos don't get ordered around by other people."

"DiNozzos also don't shut their mouths. Tony, I can every word you're saying."

The two spun around to find Gibbs staring at them. "Sorry, Boss," said Tony as Ziva returned to snapping crime scene photos, hoping to hide her sudden blush.

Gibbs stood a few feet behind his team members, watching them closely. His hair was more grey than brown, and his face was lined with stress. The team both respected and feared him; his no-nonsense and emotionless attitude got the job done, but sometimes he could be a bit hard on them.

"You guys have a job," Gibbs noted. "Get to it." With that he turned away, off to get a cup of coffee. He added, "And pull that ring back out, Tony. Ziva's got an answer she needs to give you."

Tony and Ziva stared at Gibbs's retreating back, shock and surprise clearly showing on their faces. Then Tony turned toward Ziva. "So?" he asked with a tentative, unsure smile.

She gave him another punch and a yes.

A long time ago, they had pretended to be a married couple once on an assignment during their first year working together. But this time, their marriage was going to be real.

Jenny was looking forward to watching their family grow.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't and will never pretend to own NCIS.

She was dead.

Jenny knew she was going to die from the moment the first bullet pierced her delicate skin. The bullet drilled its way further into her body and was quickly followed by another; together they her in a matter of seconds. Any further bullets had been unnecessary – she was already dead.

Gibbs had cried when no one was watching. She felt his tears slide down over her dead skin, the droplets mingling with the blood from her wounds. Even though she was dead, she could still see feel the outside world from inside her body. Jenny's eyes were frozen wide open, and she watched as several pairs of shoes walked past her. Some of those shoes were the technicians'. The sandals were Ziva's. The flip flops were Tony's. The brown shoes were Gibbs's. The black shoes were Vance's. She knew they were examining her wounds, trying to figure out how she could have let herself get killed.

At least the shooters were dead. She owed Mike Franks for that.

She had decided to watch her own funeral from what she called "the afterlife". Her body was hidden inside the dark brown casket, and she watched as the funeral guests one by one walked up to it and placed their roses on the lid. Gibbs. Tony. Ziva. McGee. Abby. Ducky. Jimmy. They had all been at the funeral, and now they would all be at the wedding.

Tony and Ziva had both confronted each other about how they were dealing with the shooting. Jenny watched sadly as they tried to cope with the pain and guilt for not preventing her death. They really shouldn't have tortured themselves like that – she was already sick and dying when the men ambushed her in the abandoned diner.

In a way, the shooters did her a favor by putting her out of her misery. She never had to tell the team about her sickness.

And now she could see their every move from above. It was almost as if she were hovering in midair above everyone else's heads in the squad room, in Abby's lab, in Vance's office…she watched over Gibbs and his team like she was their protector. Jenny listened in on their conversations, enjoying the bickering.

"Why won't you let me drive?" Ziva asked Tony as they settled down at their desks ten months after the funeral. "I'm a good driver."

"You drive like a maniac," Tony mumbled. A wadded-up piece of paper caught him in the ear.

"Everyone drives like a maniac in Israel," Ziva hissed.

"You drove especially like a maniac the first time we met. I almost threw up."

Ziva shot him an irritated look. "That was because you were telling me how to drive."

"Oh, you guys look like one of those arguing couples on TV." Abby and her ponytails bounced into the squad room. "Someday you guys should really…"

"NO!" Tony and Ziva glared at her. They didn't know that a couple years later, they would be planning their wedding.

After Ziva showed her new ring to the others, Abby immediately started obsessing over the wedding details. Jenny watched as Abby dragged Ziva to bridal boutiques to hunt for wedding dresses. It was hard trying to satisfy Ziva; she wanted a dress which she could conceal weapons underneath. The dress also couldn't be too girly, which ruled out most of the dresses in the store. Looking at the gowns on display, Jenny felt a twinge of regret. When she was alive she always put work before her social life. She never had time to form a relationship with anyone, not even with Gibbs. Her Leroy Jethro Gibbs. They could have started a family together if maybe they had just talked. But Gibbs never brought up the issue, and neither did she.

She didn't want to dwell on those thoughts for too long – she wanted to get back to watching the team members live out their lives. The moment in time when she had feelings for Gibbs was just one chapter in her life, one chapter out of many. And now she needed to move on.

As she watched Tony and Ziva in the days leading up to their wedding, Jenny couldn't help but think of what marrying Gibbs would have been like. Tony and Ziva were a happy but dysfunctional couple, and maybe, just maybe…she and Gibbs could have been one too. She remembered their days in Paris. They were on assignment, but alcohol still flowed freely. Just like Tony and Ziva, young Gibbs and young Jenny had felt the tension between them. Unlike Tony and Ziva, neither of them let themselves get drawn into a serious relationship.

But Tony and Ziva were happy together, and that was what mattered. As the days went by, Jenny noticed that Ziva gradually began throwing fewer and fewer wooden pencils at Tony. In turn, Tony was a lot more caring and much less sarcastic with her. Love was going funny things to these two teammates.

Meanwhile, down in her lab Abby was happily planning out every detail of the wedding from the type of wine served at the reception down to how the flowers were going to be arranged. Jenny felt herself smile; she missed Abby's unending optimism. Abby was always the enthusiastic one, marching around the building with a Caf-Pow in her hand and prattling about random subjects.

"And I found the perfect bridesmaids dresses, Ziva." Abby was vigorously gesturing with excitement. "They have black lace and little black flowers and are not too expensive, they…"

"Abs." Gibbs walked into the squad room. "You got anything to tell us?"

Abby stood up straight. "No, sir. I just came to tell Ziva about these dresses I saw the other …"

"Abs." Gibbs cocked his head in the direction of the elevator. "Back to work."

Jenny shook her head, smiling. Gibbs was always the one to ruin the party.

**Note: Thanks, alix33, for pointing out that Gibbs disapproves of loafers at a crime scene. I've fixed that sentence now. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't and will never pretend to own NCIS.

Most of the team was at the wedding rehearsal, but Gibbs sat alone in his basement. Jenny watched as he took out a bottle of liquor and poured himself a glass jar to keep him company. Nothing had ever been the same for Gibbs ever since his first wife and daughter were both shot and killed by a cartel member. He had joined NIS, later renamed NCIS, and taken his revenge, but Jenny heard from the other agents that he was never the same afterward. Even after she met him he had continued to change, and Jenny noticed that with every new personal loss he lost a part of his old self as well. He had mentally locked himself inside a basement and built walls around his soul. She occasionally caught a glimpse of a scared and trembling man inside behind those walls, sitting and dreading the news of another death. Who would he hear about next? Abby? Ziva? Palmer? Who would end up on Ducky's autopsy slab?

Jenny wanted to sit beside him, pour herself a glass and talk like they did in Paris. 1999…that had been a good year. Gibbs was actually pleasant back then; the Gibbs of the past was different from the current, unforgiving Gibbs who ran the team. But then years drew lines on his face, and he stopped showing up for anything aside from meetings at NCIS and the most important events of his friends' lives.

This was partly because he had begun to dislike joining in any festivities. Jenny recalled one time when she had been pleading him to attend an awards ceremony because he was receiving the award.

"Jethro, you have to stop avoiding these." She sat behind her desk, staring at the man who stood in front of it.

"You know I hate ceremonies, Madam Director." Gibbs returned Jenny's stare with a coolness that forced her to look away. She felt frustration building up inside her; why was it so hard for him to simply show his face for five minutes, accept the award then disappear?

"Just one, Jethro," she pleaded. "Just one."

"DiNozzo's doing a fine job of accepting the stuff for me, Jen."

"DiNozzo isn't you, Jethro. HE'S NOT YOU!"

Their eyes locked in a battle of wills which was only broken by the sound of Jenny's phone ringing. She then took the call and Gibbs left her office, giving her one last look before the door closed. Jenny couldn't help but feel that there was still some lingering tension, even though their relationship had ended years ago and they had reverted to just being fellow agents. After she hung up, she began to remember how they had once been more than fellow agents, how they had once been lovers.

After Paris, they toured Europe together. They were young and free, loving each other without reservation. She had broken rule number eight (never take anything for granted) and rule number twelve (never date a co-worker) when she was with Gibbs. Their relationship had been wonderful, but Jenny reluctantly decided to destroy it because she wanted to focus more on her career than on her personal life. After their split she always assumed that there would be time to return to their relationship if she wanted to. Now she was dead, killed by a series of bullets, and Gibbs sat alone in his basement keeping his wood company. He was lonely Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

Jenny used to privately drop by his house from time to time, even after they ended their relationship. Gibbs would always be ready with two glasses and a bottle sitting on his coffee table.

"I take it you want something more than wine," Gibbs said once when she came to visit. It was late at night, and she was curled up beside him on the couch watching flames flicker in the fireplace. She felt more comfortable than she had ever been.

"I don't know what I want." Jenny sighed and snuggled closer to him. "Maybe I want you."

"Well do you, Jen?" he asked.

She couldn't remember how she had answered that question. They had been discussing Paris, their breakup and their lives afterward, and the alcohol slowly loosened both of their tongues. Gibbs admitted that he never got over his Jenny Shepard. She admitted that she still had feelings for Gibbs. But nothing changed that night, and her life ended without her ever getting back together with Gibbs and starting a family with him.

Gibbs's team was her family instead. And now she could watch the members of this strange family for as long as she wanted.

But one member refused to fully immerse himself in their activities outside of work. He sat in his basement drinking away his loneliness instead.

His untouched wood carving supplies sat along with a block of cedar on the table next to the liquor bottle. Jenny wondered what he was thinking about. Gibbs was simply staring at emptiness, which meant he was fully focused on a single thought.

He only lost focus when his cell phone rang. Jenny was surprised that he even kept it with him; she knew that Gibbs sometimes intentionally destroyed or turned off his phone in order to prevent people from contacting him. This time he ignored it for the first few rings, but she saw him reluctantly pick it up.

"Gibbs."

"Boss, we have a problem." Gibbs could barely hear McGee's voice over the noises in the background. Something was wrong; Gibbs felt it in his gut, which was never wrong.

"McGee, tell me right now…"

"Tony and Ziva are gone."

"WHAT?" He almost threw his phone to the ground in anger but kept holding it while McGee continued panicking on the other end.

"Their cars are in the parking lot, Boss. They aren't picking up their phones. But they're gone. No one knows where they are. We can't find them. Boss, we need…"

**Note: Thanks, alix33 for continually helping me by pointing out the little details I've missed. **


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't and will never pretend to own NCIS.

Jenny watched the panic unfold at the church. Abby was running around in her black strappy heels, frantically calling Tony and Ziva's names. McGee was still on the phone with Gibbs, who was driving as fast as he could to the church. Some of the wedding party members were still milling around inside, wondering where the bride and groom had gone.

"…and there's no sign of them, Boss," said McGee.

"Are you absolutely sure?"

McGee wet his lips nervously. "Well, Ducky's still looking."

"Get him back to the church, McGee. We don't need him lost too."

"Timothy, I think there's something you need to see."

"Got to go, Boss." McGee ended the call as Ducky came into sight. "Ducky, what's up?"

"We found a note on their car, my dear McGee." He slowly walked up to the young agent, reluctant to share what he had found. "It said…"

"McGee!" Abby came running toward him with a panicked expression on her face. "I found bullets on the lawn. And blood. Oh God. What if it's theirs? What if someone got them? What if they're dead?"

"I doubt they would have let anything happen to them without a struggle," said Ducky. "Ziva is more than proficient when it comes to handling knives. I think few women who could best her, if any."

"They could be anywhere right now, Ducky. Something's happening to them right now, I just know it." Jenny could detect that Abby was on the verge of going hysterical. She knew that the forensic scientist needed someone to comfort her help her, and McGee stepped forward to do the job.

"Abby, Abby." He put his arm around her. "We'll get them back alive."

"You promise?"

"I won't let that happen." He muttered under his breath, "Boss is going to kill me."

"Can't do that yet, McGee. I need you to find Tony and Ziva."

Gibbs strode into the church. Abby ran to him and McGee awkwardly trailed behind her with Ducky.

"Gibbs! There's blood and bullets and Tony and Ziva are…"

"Gone. Yes, I know. McGee told me already." He drew Abby into a hug and patted her on the back. "Don't worry, Abs."

"But I have to worry, Gibbs. I can't not worry. I need to know that they are okay." Abby stared into his face, despair written across her face. They always had a father-daughter relationship, and now her eyes pleading for him to give her reassurance. He had none for her.

Jenny saw that Gibbs was getting angry. He was angry that someone had the guts to attack his two agents. He was angry that something was happening to Tony and Ziva the week before their wedding. He was trying to keep his emotions under control, but Jenny saw that he had already become harsher and sterner.

"McGee," he said as he let go of Abby. "Go with Abby to check out the blood and bullets. Treat it as a crime scene. Ducky, get everyone here to go home."

"Jethro." Ducky spoke nervously, as if he knew that Gibbs was getting angrier by the minute and didn't want him to explode. "There's a note on their car's windshield. I'm afraid it reminded…"

Gibbs promptly turned on his heel and walked outside to the parking lot, ignoring the rest of what Ducky was saying. He found their car outside and saw the small white slip of paper. Squinting at the note, he leaned in closer to read the words hastily scrawled in green ink.

Find me, the note said. Find me and you'll find them. I'll keep them alive as long as you keep looking.

Jenny watched as Gibbs picked it up between his thumb and his forefinger. She couldn't recognize the handwriting and apparently neither could he. As far as she could recall none of the team members used green pens. The note was from Tony and Ziva's captor. It had to be.

She watched Gibbs stride back inside the church and followed him. Abby, Ducky and McGee were still standing in the aisle waiting for Gibbs to come back. He stared at them, stunned.

"What are you guys waiting for?" he asked, his voice demanding. "Abby. McGee. Get to the crime scene. An abduction just occurred. Ducky, get these people out of here. I don't need them around."

"On it, Boss." McGee dragged Abby out of the church. "Abby, show me where you found the stuff. It's our only hope if we want to find Tony and Ziva."

Ducky began shooing the rest of the wedding party out of the church. Gibbs took the cell phone from his pocket and dialed.

"Mr. DiNozzo, your son has been abducted." He listened for a moment as the older DiNozzo stuttered on the other end. Gibbs knew that Tony's father was on a business trip in New York, having deemed the trip more important than his son's wedding. After hearing the news, the older DiNozzo sounded stunned and was now bothering Gibbs for details. "Yeah, he's in some kind of trouble. And I will personally make sure that the people who took Tony and Ziva are going to suffer."

After listening to the DiNozzo squawk, Gibbs hung up. He started to dial Eli David's number, but stopped himself. He didn't need to; Eli had died a few weeks prior during a bombing in Tel Aviv. Jenny had watched as Ziva turned to Gibbs and the team, who helped her overcome her grief. Tony held off on making inappropriate jokes, McGee dropped by her house every other day to talk to her, Abby gave Ziva a hug whenever she saw her, and Gibbs just sat and listened in his basement while she cried.

Gibbs knew if Eli had still been alive, the people who had kidnapped his daughter and her fiancé would have been tortured before dying a slow, painful death. Jenny knew Gibbs would keep that in mind.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't and will never pretend to own NCIS.

"Okay, first thing we gotta determine is whose fault this is."

"Well, it's yours. You're the one who insisted on taking an evening stroll, Tony."

"And you're the one who wanted some fresh air, Ziva."

Jenny could barely see the two of them sitting back to back in the dark. She had found them locked in the empty room of a house somewhere in DC. It had taken hours of searching, but she needed no rest. "Rest in peace" was definitely a phrase that did not apply to her.

"Where are we?" Ziva asked as she struggled to free her hands. Her hands and Tony's were tied behind their backs with some stiff rope, and they were unable to reach for any of their weapons.

"In a room, David."

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Tony."

"No problem."

"How the hell did we get here?"

"I dunno. Do you think you could untie these ropes and get us out, ex-Mossad agent?"

Ziva grimaced. "Well, it's going to be a long and hard struggle, but I'll try." She began struggling with her bonds. "Isn't there anything you can do?" she snapped.

"I know something else that's long and hard, but I don't think that'll be useful right now."

Jenny smiled as Ziva, with her hands still tied behind her back, elbowed him in the stomach. Hard. As dire as the situation was, this couple could not stop bickering. And Tony could not stop talking dirty.

"So how do you suggest we get out of here, my little hairy butt?"

Tony was still trying to overcome the pain of his fiance's stomach jab. "Ziva, I thought I told you not to call me that."

"Sorry, I was thinking of more pressing issues than what your new nickname should be because WE'RE STUCK IN A ROOM IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE AND I WANT TO GET OUT!" Ziva's voice reverberated inside the empty room, and Jenny could have sworn that it shook the whole building. No one else was in the building aside from the two of them; Jenny had checked every other room for signs of their abductors. The people who had taken them left for the night, so there was no one there besides Tony, Ziva and herself. And she technically wasn't even present.

"Can you at least untie me if you can't untie yourself?"

Ziva whipped her head around to face Tony. "Do you think I can't untie my own hands?"

"Well, I do."

"You had better be happy that my hands are tied. Otherwise I would slap you until your face turns black and blue."

"I'd be more than happy to let you do that, Ziva." This earned Tony another jab in the stomach.

"I hope we get out of here soon," Ziva muttered.

"So do I. I don't think I can take this much longer."

Ziva just laughed. "Can't stand a few hours of being cooped up, Tony?"

"Not with you in the room." He winced in pain. "You jabbed at my stomach just now a little too hard."

"Get some sleep, Tony. It's least two in the morning." The windows were boarded up; she could only estimate how long they had been stuck. How long was it really? Eight hours? Ten hours? She gave up on trying to free herself. "I'm tired."

"Wow, that's a first." He settled down on the concrete floor, curling into a ball. "You've never gotten tired."

"I've never gotten married either," Ziva replied. "There's always a first time for everything."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny."

"Goodnight, my little hairy butt."

"Goodnight, Ziva. And stop calling me hairy butt."

Jenny thought she heard Tony grunt in pain one more time as Ziva elbowed him one lst time. As they fell asleep, she began to feel nervous. She had found Tony and Ziva, but they were in a house whose address she didn't know. And even if she did know, she couldn't tell anyone.

Hopefully the team would find them in time.

A few hours later, Tony and Ziva were awoken by a loud knocking on their door. Jenny watched as the two of them tried to get up after spending the night lying down on the floor.

"This definitely isn't our marriage bed," Tony grumbled.

The door flew open and five men entered the room, each dressed fully in black and wearing a mask. "Get up," said the tallest one. His voice was deep and rough. Jenny couldn't identify him.

His associates yanked Tony and Ziva into a standing position. Each one took hold of one of their arms.

"Be careful; the woman's dangerous."

"You don't think I'm dangerous?" asked Tony. One of the men punched him the face. "Oh come on," he said while deep red blood began dripping from his nose. "My fiancé did better than that when I proposed to her for the first time. She was rather mad."

That earned him another punch. Ziva and Jenny watched helplessly as the men on either side of Tony took turns injuring him as much as they could.

After a minute of torture, the leader said, "Enough." He headed toward the door. "We're taking them with us."

"Where are we going?" Ziva asked as the men dragged her along. She fought them, but even they were too strong for her. "I demand an answer."

"Shut. Your. Mouth." The men stuffed a handkerchief in her mouth but she spit it out. "You'll know soon enough."

Jenny watched as Tony and Ziva were dragged down the hallway and into what used to be a kitchen. They were placed in two chairs back to back and tied together with more rope.

"This is all a little unnecessary, don't you think?" Tony asked.

The five men standing in front of him began shifting uneasily. "We were just following orders."

"Whose orders?"

"Mine." Jenny saw the silhouette of a woman standing in the doorway. "You're my prisoners."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't and will never pretend to own NCIS.

As the sun rose Jenny headed back to NCIS headquarters. In the squadroom, Gibbs and McGee were doing what they could to try to track down Tony and Ziva.

"McGee, make a list of people who would want to hurt the two of them. Do it quick."

"Uh, Boss?" McGee stared at Gibbs, stunned by the request.

"Do I have to tell you twice, McGee?"

"No, Boss. It's just that…" He wet his lips. "It's going to be a pretty long list."

Gibbs looked up from the folder on his desk. "Well then start, McGee. Twenty minutes."

Sighing, McGee turned to his computer. Tony and Ziva had each racked up a long list of enemies over the course of their lives, and finding all of them was going to be a nightmare. Still, if that was what it took to find them, he was going to do it. He glanced at their empty desks; without them, the room was quieter than normal.

"I'm going down to Abby's lab." Gibbs stood up abruptly, grabbing the folder with one hand and his cup of coffee with the other. "Keep working on it, McGee."

The elevator doors opened with a ping, and Ducky walked out of the elevator.

"What are you doing here, Duck?" asked Gibbs.

"Well Jethro…" He held out a note with a trembling hand.

Find your agents, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the note said. I'm waiting. If you don't come soon, I'm going to do something to Tony that I should have done a long time ago. I'm going to kill him.

"Where did you find this?"

"I found it on my desk about five minutes ago. Jethro, what does this mean?"

Gibbs stared into the distance. "It means that we're running out of time." He took the note, turned on his heel and headed to Abby's lab.

"…and Gibbs is going to show up right around now." Abby turned around just as Gibbs set his foot inside the room. "HI, GIBBS!" The music she was playing almost completely drowned out her voice, and she had to yell in order for Gibbs to hear her. Jenny almost cringed at how loud it was; she had forgotten that Abby's music choice could make people go permanently deaf.

"Hey, Abs. What do you have for me?" He stared at her computer warily, and Jenny smiled. She remembered that Gibbs had always distrusted technology for reasons of his owns and knew he wasn't about to start trusting it just yet.

"I compared the handwriting on the note to pretty much every writing sample I could find. Nothing matched. I don't know who wrote the note. I tried everything. I tried Tony's old boss, Chip, his old girlfriend Wendy…"

"It's someone who knows me. Ducky found a note addressed to me sitting on his desk."

"I hope they're not after this team. Gibbs, what if they're out to get all of us? You, me, McGee, Ducky, Palmer…"

"They're after Tony." He handed her the new note. "The people who kidnapped him and Ziva want to kill him."

"Oh, god." Abby stood staring at the note in shock. Jenny desperately wanted to prod her, to remind her that there was a job that she needed to do in order for Tony and Ziva to be found. "Do you think they've been killed?"

Gibbs's voice interrupted her panicked thoughts. "Abby, you can help find who kidnapped them. You can help us get them back alive. And for you to do that, you need to concentrate. Abs, are you listening?"

Abby started sniffling. "I know, Gibbs. But I just can't…"

"Do it, Abs." Gibbs grabbed her shoulders and hugged her as she began sobbing. "Do it for Tony and Ziva. Do it for me."

"Alright." Jenny watched as Abby released herself from Gibbs's embrace and turned back to her computers. Gibbs had always comforted the people he cared about. "I'll do everything I can, Gibbs."

"Thanks, Abs," he whispered as he left the lab.

For the rest of the day Gibbs, McGee and Abby tried their best to get leads. Jenny watched as all three – Gibbs included – typed away at their computers. Gibbs and McGee were frantically compiling a list of people who would have wanted Tony dead, while Abby searched for any substances which could have been left on both notes and compared writing samples. Still, by the end of the day none of them were able to find their way to the house Tony and Ziva were being kept in.

"Boss, I'll check the traffic cameras." McGee began pulling up videos from the area around the church. "Maybe I can see who came to the church."

Jenny watched as he searched for any sign of Tony and Ziva on the cameras. "Boss?"

"What, McGee?"

"I think I found something." McGee pulled up one particular clip on the large screen, his heart racing slightly. "There's a car leaving the church around the time before we realized they were missing."

Gibbs quickly stood up from his desk. "Where's it heading?"

"I'll find that out, Boss."

"Can you get an ID?"

"Abby and I can try to find the license plate number," McGee answered.

"Good." Gibbs nodded in approval. "I want you to go down to Abby's lab and stay there until I say so. You and Abby stay in the building tonight, you hear?"

"Yes, Boss."

"We're all staying. No one leaves. Not you, not Abby, not Ducky, not Palmer. I don't care what plans you all have tonight. The kidnappers are out there with Tony and Ziva. Just in case they're after the entire team, I don't want you or any of the others to be the kidnappers' next target."

Jenny remembered the last time Gibbs had imposed a lockdown at NCIS. Ari had been the one targeting the team members back then…she wondered who could be after them now.

And why did they want Tony?


End file.
